The Learning Organization: Developing Democracy at Work Book

This highly useful, readable book has been going strong for 13 years now. The author, who also wrote the catchily titled The Fish Rots from the Head employs colourful language to bash readers' minds into shape.Garratt's basic presumption is "that organisations can only be effective and efficient if there is conscious and continuous learning between three distinct groups--the leaders who direct the enterprise, the staff who deliver the product or services and the customer". He claims that large and disparate companies such as BP Amoco, GE, Xerox, and Harley Davidson, have adopted practices to make them "learning organisations". Like a shark which must constantly swim to survive, an organisation must constantly be on the look out for new ideas. The Board of Directors must initiate practices which reward good learning and growth for the company.According to Garratt there are three types of learning: "policy", which refers to "organisational effectiveness"--how well the company's activity is perceived by its customers; "operational" which refers to how well the company performs its activity; and finally, "strategic" which refers to understanding how and why organisational failures occur. The Learning Organisation cautions managers in drives for efficiency that they will "downsize, then right size, and finally capsize". Having convinced us that organisational learning matters, Garratt sets out the organisational pre-conditions to make it happen before finally explaining some nitty-gritty details about concrete steps a company can employ. --Bruce McWilliamsRead More